Article Summary
Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., Ormrod, R., & Hamby, S. (2009).
Violence, abuse, and crime exposure in a national sample of children and youth. Pediatrics 124(5), 1411.
The authors report the findings of the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatScev). This study extends previous research by using a nationally representative sample, extending the scope of questions asked about victimization, and extending the range of participants to include children between the ages of 0 and 17 (respondents under age 10 had an adult caregiver respond as a proxy) (N=4,549). This survey measured both experiences of violence in the previous year and throughout one’s lifetime, and the numbers for the latter were higher than those for the former.
The findings indicate that child and adolescent exposure to violence is extensive. Over half (60.6%) of the youth in the sample directly experienced or witnessed one violent incident in the previous year, the most common being physical assault (46.3%), followed by property offense (24.6%), maltreatment by a significant adult (10.2%), and sexual victimization (6.1%). A little more than one-quarter (25.3%) reported witnessing violence in the home and/or community. Furthermore, these results suggest that children who experience one type of violence are at a greater risk for experiencing other types of victimization. Many children reported experiencing multiple types of victimization. The authors point to policy implications, such as the need for a more holistic approach to child victimization. They said there is a need to extend the scope of programs to address multiple types and chronic victimization.
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